TY 2017 ReasonableCauseExplanation
Name:
Anoka Business and Landowners Association
Software Version:
18.2.0.0
Explanation:
LATE FILING WAS DUE TO REASONABLE CAUSE. Reporting Organizations name is Anoka Business and Landowners Association herein ABLA. ABLAs report preparer is Michael J Jacobs herein Jacobs. The attached report Form 9900, FYE 4/30/2018 was originally due 9/15/2018, but after being granted and extension was ultimately due 3/15/2019. ABLA provided appropriate records to Jacobs on 5/14/2018. Jacobs had been preparing ABLAs reports for many years and was familiar with ABLAs programs and record keeping methods. The most efficient manner for preparing the report was for Jacobs to enter each transaction into financial accounting software known as QuickBooks Pro, edit each transaction with additional information found on invoices, statements, vendor bills, and fund accounting statements provided by ABLA. Thereafter the transactions would be compared with ABLAs fund accounting statements and adjustments were made for consistent reporting. Typically, it has taken between 20 and 25 hours per year for the QuickBooks portion of the preparation work and an additional 2 or 3 hours to prepare the Form 990 report, attachments, and reports to ABLAs board. Jacobs accepted additional full-time employment on 3/21/2018. This additional employment included a lot of travel. However, Jacobs believed that he would have enough time at home and/or in his preparer office to promptly prepare ABLAs 990 reports. In November, 2018, Jacobs travel time / time away from home and office increased substantially. Jacobs began taking ABLAs records with him when he traveled, along with a laptop computer with QuickBooks Pro installed on it. Somehow over time, Jacobs came to believe that he had completed the Form 990, FYE 4/30/2018, provided it to ABLA for signature, and filed it. Jacobs is uncertain how this could have happened. Jacobs has indicated that the additional employment had been very stressful, and he believes that this stress caused cognitive fatigue, which in turn caused confusion. There may have been confusion based upon the fact that ABLA files its reports on a fiscal year. Jacobs may have opened his 2016 tax preparation software and seen that that report was filed, believing that that was the proper year to examine. Noone from ABLA noticed that the Form 990 FYE 4/30/2018 had not been filed either. On 3/7/2020, Jacobs discovered / determined that the Form 990 FYE 4/30/2018 had NOT yet been filed. Jacobs promptly completed / corrected QuickBooks entries and corrected / completed data entry into his 2017 tax preparation software. This Form 990 FYE 4/30/2018 is being filed as promptly as possible after discovery that it had not yet been filed. ABLA has received no requests for examination of the annual return referred to above. Late filing of the above return was due to reasonable cause.